Political leaders are often caught lying. Most people accept their lies as necessary evil. But smarter are those who are difficult to be caught in the act. Even an illiterate man can see typical Indian politicians like Lalu Prasad Yadav lying during media interviews. With public becoming more alert, Indian politicians too need to graduate. They need to speak with greater convictions. One of the reasons for Aam Aadmi Party’s phenomenal rise in Delhi is its leaders’ choice of avoiding the usual lies.

The reason cited by Meghalaya’s former minister KK Dkhar for his resignation from the ruling Congress party is not convincing. The vice-president of Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said he could not tolerate the infighting in the Congress anymore. But, there is always more than what meets the eye in politics. His ‘sacrifice’ of the top post cannot be driven by the sole factor of Congress infighting, an open secret for decades. The country’s oldest party is infamous in Meghalaya for its internal rifts. In its 43 years of statehood, the state had over 20 chief ministers and two stints of President’s Rule, all because of political instability, mostly in the Congress. It appears his quitting the Congress has almost nothing to do with infighting. In fact, the rumblings were more severe a few months ago. Most of the Congress leaders including chief minister Mukul Sangma were camping in New Delhi then, raising speculation of a fall of the government. Timing of Dkhar’s decision only points at either some new ‘offer’ made to him or his less prospects in the party. He too categorically said the resignation should not mean an end to his political career. He was yet to name the party he would be joining, but indications are clear that he already has an offer in hand.

Just like former minister, all political leaders utter unconvincing words in public domain every day. Mukul Sangma became a laughing stock when ‘revealed’ his plans to build a Time Square-like shopping complex at Polo Ground in Shillong. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi makes a joke of himself every other day. His former cabinet colleague Nilamoni Sen Deka once drew infamy when he claimed that a villager can manage a meal with just Rs 2. May be, this is politics and it will remain so. But doesn’t the public deserve more serious answers from politicians, as the latter is feeding on the formers’ money?

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on January 30, 2015)

Julius Dorphang must salute the tricolor this Republic Day. The present MLA and former chief of the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) had no qualms in taking pledge of upholding the Indian Constitution once he denounced. Dorphang, one of the most silent MLAs in Meghalaya assembly, ‘sacrificed’ his ideology apparently for personal gains. The jailed Garo Hills National Army (GNLA) chief Champion Sangma is also on his way to the ‘mainstream’. These leaders once claimed to have believed that rights of their tribes could not be protected through peaceful means. So they took up arms and engaged in all kinds of crimes – killing, kidnapping, looting… They did not believe in the Constitution. They faithfully practised the ritual of calling bandhs on Independence Day and Republic Day. Finally, they reaped the benefit of the government policy to reward what critics term ‘criminals’ with rehabilitation package. While these people, who orchestrated major crimes on humanity like indiscriminate killing, get the red carpet from government, petty criminals continue to languish in jails due to delayed trials.

Like every year, the HNLC called a bandh to boycott this Republic Day too. In the press statement, the outfit leveled all kinds of allegations against the Union of India. HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw termed ‘illegal’ celebration of Republic Day within their ‘jurisdiction’. Dorphang might have spoken the same language once. The irony is that the same outfit is crying for government attention for peace talks. Several political parties, ostensibly to appease Khasi sentiment, are holding government responsible for delaying the peace talks with the outfit. They have been demanding appointment of interlocutors to initiate peace talks between the HNLC and the government. However, it has become difficult for the government to maintain soft approach towards militant groups who want peace talks and resort to violence at the same time. The hard line approach had to be adopted following BJP-led NDA government’s directive not to hold talks with any outfit which indulges in violence. The government’s lack of response towards HNLC’s call is also due to the police perception that the outfit is just a spent force now. The outfit’s claim that holding Republic Day in Khasi-Jaintia Hills is ‘illegal’ and its desperation for talks with Indian government are contradictory. The public, who still have some sympathy left for HNLC, should notice such hypocrisy of the outfit that claims to have been fighting for the rights of indigenous Khasi-Jaintia people. Given a chance to be in a position like that of Julius Dorphang, these underground leaders would take no time to sing paeans of the Government of India.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on January 24, 2015)

Meghalaya is just seven years away from its golden jubilee. It is just a little over two decades junior to th parent state of Assam. Along with two erstwhile princely states of Manipur and Tripura, Meghalaya was declared independent state by the Indian Union on January 21, 1972. The erstwhile Khasi-Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills districts of undivided Assam were aptly named ‘Meghalaya’ meaning abode of clouds although the phenomenon is typical to Khasi Hills only. Since then the state has gone through many transformations and challenges. It’s a matter of debate whether the state has achieved anything that it could not have under the state of Assam.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of a small state carved out of a big state. A big state gets more attention from the Centre. It gets bigger share of Central funds. National political parties pay more attention due to its huge population which means more votes for them. However, the small and sparsely populated demographic blocks within such states tend to remain neglected for ages. This is the primary reason for statehood demands across the country. Such blocks, once granted statehood, have to struggle for Central attention but they run on their own and don’t face ‘step-motherly’ treatment within the state anymore.

Could Meghalaya have developed more had it been under Assam till now? The answer is perhaps yes, but at the same time the state would have had to bear the burden of all necessary evils of Assam, which has witnessed serious demographic changes over the decades. The religion census, figures of which were concealed by the then UPA government and declared by the NDA government recently, shows that growth rate of Muslim population is highest in Assam. On the other hand, Meghalaya despite being a neighbour of Assam is one of the three states that witnessed minimum growth of Muslim population in the past decade. Meghalaya would have had to share the burden of Assam had it not separated in 1972. But, had it been under Assam, coal mining in the state might have been regulated. It would not have faced the embarrassment of the ban imposed by National Green Tribunal (NGT). Likewise, many other changes, both positive and negative, could have been noticed had the state been under Assam.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on January 23, 2015)

The lines or the piece of art might be hilarious, but they are more serious than the ‘serious’ ones. A piece of satire needs more creativity than a flat and hard-hitting one. The West is much advanced in this field. Be it satire writings, cartoons or art, they are much ahead of the East. The tragedy in Paris is definitely significant in terms of the vulnerability of freedom of speech at the hands of religious extremist force. But it is also for rest of the world to see that a thing called ‘freedom of speech’ exists in France. That’s why the incident is getting global condemnation. A similar incident in Middle-East or Africa would not have received such attention.

Although the Indian press apparently enjoys great freedom of expression, there exists no such satire magazine. There are satire writings and arts in bits and pieces in magazines and newspapers, but most of them are limited to targeting the political and bureaucratic establishments. The vices in the great world of religion have almost remained untouched. Of course, there is a major challenge in treating religious subjects as India is already suffering from multiple ethnic conflicts and communal clashes besides attacks of terrorism in the name of religion. An outrageous religious cartoon will put the life of a cartoonist at risk any moment. This shows the so-called freedom of expression in India is a myth. There may not be any highly visible attacks on writers or cartoonists, but there is little content to warrant such situation as well. The need of the hour is for independent and creative minds to deal with religious subjects in a different manner, like making use of satire.

Satire has been an important tool in art and literature for ages to convey great messages. But to allow the art of satire to grow the nation as a whole has to play a role, as the present West does. There has to be a huge level of acceptance and tolerance among the public, which is lacking in the East including India. It has to be noticed France has not seen any major retaliatory attack on the minority Muslim community. After the massacre of 10 Charlie Hebdo employees, the French public has not jumped into any conclusion to go and attack Muslims randomly, as seen in countries like India. There is a long way to go for India to attain freedom of expression as in the West.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on January 10, 2015)

Open violation of Supreme Court orders in India is very common. It’s not sure whether even the authorities concerned remember some recent vital orders. They are talked about, enforced and violations reported for only a period of time. Public memory being short, the violations resume after some time while authorities keep their eyes shut. They have ‘other’ things to do. Let Supreme Court orders be violated unless someone lodges a complaint! That’s the attitude. The latest example of this phenomenon is blatant violation of a ruling of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Meghalaya. The NGT had in last April ordered a complete ban on ‘rat-hole’ coal mining in the state although it recently allowed transportation of the already extracted mineral. But, shocking revelations have emerged from fresh mining ban orders issued by two deputy commissioners suggesting coal mining is still in vogue.

Rumours about large-scale mining were doing the rounds for quite some time before the two DCs promulgated 144 CrPC prohibiting illegal mining of coal in violation of the NGT order. Significant aspect of the orders is the difference between the tones of the two orders. The first order from West Khasi Hills DC S Kharlyngdoh was issued around two weeks ago followed by another on January 6. East Jaintia Hills DC WR Lyngdoh followed the suit the next day. An important fact to be considered here is that East Jaintia Hills is the main mining hub of the state and rumours about violations emerged from this district and not West Khasi Hills. While the West Khasi Hills DC clearly stated about illegal mining taking place in his earlier order, his counterpart in East Jaintia Hills appears to have just done a job under compulsion. In the ban order, there was no mention about any report of illegal mining taking place in the district. The order issued a day after the second order from West Khasi Hills DC is also significant.

The role of police in the whole episode is also questionable. West Khasi Hills district police chief S Nongtnger reportedly said it was the duty of magistrate to check if illegal mining is going on and police’s job is to ensure security in the exercise. The police superintendent said this despite the state police chief being directly ordered by the NGT to ensure implementation of its order. All these would only lead to a conclusion that political pressure has got the better of bureaucrats, compelling the latter to keep their eyes and mouths shut once again.

A crack or pothole appearing on a bitumen road within months of its construction is no wonder in India. Poor quality is to blame in this case. Yet, even the best bitumen roads have much shorter life than concrete ones. Maintenance of roads especially highways is no smaller exercise than making them. Thousands of crores are spent every year for road repair, but overall condition of roads in the country is still pathetic. Making concrete roads is seen as a solution to this problem. Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari recently announced that all new major roads will be made concrete. The previous NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee also made a target of making at least 10 per cent of the new roads concrete. But soaring prices of cement and apprehension of further escalation of prices once the demand goes up kept the goal unfulfilled. Gadkari, however, mentioned that the government has found a way out to get the cement in less than half of the market price.

The Centre’s decision to make concrete roads will have a lot of implications in other sectors. The sharp rise in demand for cement would lead to a boom in cement industry, which is not doing so well due to the slump in real estate market. All sick cement industries will get a chance to have a new lease of life. Besides, with the drastic fall in demand for bitumen, the country’s dependence on import will come down sharply. It will help save the country’s foreign exchange reserve. Looking at environment aspect, concrete has a lot of advantages. It is recyclable. Unlike bitumen-mixed pavement materials, broken concrete can be used in other constructions. Thousands of gallons of diesel have to be burnt to melt bitumen for road construction. Concrete roads will save the energy and cause less pollution.

Amid all the positive aspects of making concrete roads, there is however a dark side of the whole plan. A boom in the cement industries will lead to a massive demand for limestone, which is the basic raw material of cement. Limestone mining will increase on a large scale in the forest areas leading to a massive environmental degradation. Groups in limestone-rich states like Meghalaya are already fighting against limestone mining, which caused destruction to some millennia-old caves, a favourite tourist destination. The policy makers will have to see all the pros and cons before going ahead with the ‘concrete’ plan.

Shillong has broken almost a decade-long deadlock this New Year. For the first time in years, the Pine City hosted a festival that ended not before the dawn of January 1. The Midnight Festival organised by the state Art and Culture department reminded old timers the midnight revelry before the troubled days of 1990’s in the city.

“Localities in Shillong used to hold New Year functions till past midnight, but many have stopped since insurgency picked momentum in the capital city,” said Michael Syiem, who was busy with his ‘midnight swim’ when revellers welcomed 2015 at Khyndailad. Syiem’s Forever Young group started the ‘midnight swim’ 18 years ago.

Around six to eight thousand revellers, both local residents and tourists, had most of the night-long function in the heart of the city despite the bone-chilling cold.

The Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) had organised New Year festivals with government support for a couple of years till around seven years ago.

“The government is trying to revive the festival and tap tourism potentials of the state further by organising such festivals,” said Sanjay Goyal, deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills district.

Lauding the public for making the even successful while not letting any untoward incident happen, the DC said, “The chief minister is very much keen on such events which can contribute to tourism as well as boost the state’s image,” he said.

He also informed that the government is planning to publicise such events outside so that they become additional attraction for tourists to spend Christmas-to-New Year in Shillong.

There were a good number of tourists coming from neighbouring Assam to witness the festival.

“I am on a vacation and happened to be here today. This has inspired me to think of coming here next year too,” said one Jiten Deka from Guwahati.

According to scientists, blue whales make one of the biggest ultrasonic sounds among living beings. The sound made by one whale can be heard by his mate across the Atlantic, a distance of around 3000 km! This is the irony of ‘serenity’ of the sea. The hue and cry over noise (audible by humans) pollution looks irrelevant if such facts are taken into account. Yet, noise pollution is an issue that often crops up during big festivals like the New Year. Every major city of the world burns lakhs of firecrackers to ‘welcome’ the New Year. They compete with each other in extravagance, a major part of which is the firecrackers and light shows. They amuse most people, leaving some concerned and skeptic. All kinds of pollution – material waste, noise and air – are caused by such events.

A small village community in Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya shares the global concern over noise pollution. The Dorbar Shnong (traditional administrative body) of Khimmusniang in Jowai town does not allow any firecrackers in the locality. The Dorbar has been the recipient of cleanest locality award for two consecutive years. The Dorbar drew huge applauds on social media from the lovers of serenity and cleanliness. At the same time, it poured cold waters on local youth who were raring to blast it out on the New Year eve. They might be wondering what harm one noisy night would do to the society? Can’t the place be cleaned the next morning and the noise forgotten? Could such traditional bodies do anything to prevent the permanent damage caused by unscientific coal mining in the region?

Another vital question is will the big metros take any lesson from this stricture of the Dorbar? Can any metro ban sale of firecrackers on New Year even as the Dorbar did? The possibility is remote. Rather, ‘lessons’ are always learnt from cities, not villages. That’s why there is urbanisation, not ‘ruralisation’. The Dorbar in Jowai cannot make any difference to global scenario, unless some big city takes up the mantle and it goes viral. Rather it would continue getting afflicted by sins of greater humanity. For example, Maldives cannot save itself from the rising sea level with infinite number of green initiatives unless the world wakes up to it. Let such well-concerned Dorbars come up in the coal-rich areas to persuade miners against killing the rivers, fertile lands.